See more Kotex items: First ad (1921; scroll to bottom of page) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in a menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

Kotex box and menstrual pad, copyrighted 1974 (U.S.A.)
Pad, below

The pad and tabs - the long ends that attached to a belt or special underpants - on this pad are white, not the gray of the pictures below.

Read the first page for a discussion.
See the box

 

I cut off the lower tabs to save space. Note the blue line on the right pad, which indicates the underpants side, not the vulva side.
The absorbing pad measures about 8" x 2.75" x 0.75" (about 21 x 7 x 2 cm) and the short tab (front of body) extends about 4" (about 9.5 cm)farther, the long one about 6" (about 15 cm) (rear of body). See a diagram showing why the tabs differed in length and how a woman wore a pad.

 

The pad covering is much softer - and is not gauze - than it was in the 1930s pad.
See the box. See a Kotex pad probably from the 1930s and one from the early 1960s.

© 2001 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the
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of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org